Apple in perfumery: a note that does not come from the fruit
Why apple cannot be extracted
Like pear, apple has no viable extraction. You do not distil an apple: the fruit is too watery, its smell too volatile, and what heat would leave behind would resemble stewed fruit rather than a fresh one. There is therefore no natural apple essence, and there never has been. The note is written in a laboratory, and its backbone is well known: the damascones, isolated in the 1970s, which give both the fruity crispness and a slightly jammy roundness. A detail that often surprises: those same damascones are one of the signatures of rose, which explains the kinship you sometimes sense between a fine modern rose and a red apple. Alongside them, green aldehydes and esters are used to sharpen the note and give it its freshly cut apple skin edge.
What does apple smell like?
It depends entirely on which apple, and the gap is wider than between two neighbouring notes. Green apple is sharp, cutting, almost chemical: a green, sweet flash that immediately recalls boiled sweets and the perfumes of the 1990s, the decade in which it was used without restraint. Red or cooked apple is another matter altogether: round, sweet, candied, close to stewed fruit and to an apple turnover, it leans towards gourmand perfumes and takes cinnamon or honey very well. Next to pear, apple is nervier and tarter; next to raspberry, less jammy and greener.
Apple perfumes at Le Soleil d'Or
GREENLEY by Parfums de Marly gives green apple in its most legible form, backed by bergamot and amber woods that keep it from vanishing. LAYTON, from the same house and signed by Hamid Merati-Kashani, shows the other use: a round apple set on lavender, vanilla and praline. Or du Serail by Naomi Goodsir, composed by Bertrand Duchaufour, takes it towards cooked fruit, rum, honey and tobacco. At Hanae Mori, HiM places it in the heart, between cinnamon and iris, over an amber base. Finally Aventus by Creed uses it at the top, with blackcurrant and pineapple, to launch its smoky fruity accord.
Apple accords and fragrance families
Apple is a top note of fruity perfumes, but it behaves very differently depending on the direction chosen. In its green version it serves green perfumes and hesperidic perfumes, where it extends the tartness of citrus without their bitterness. In its red or cooked version it joins gourmand perfumes and amber perfumes, alongside caramel, tonka bean and tobacco. Its kinship with rose, through the damascones, also makes it a discreet partner for floral perfumes. And set on cedar, ambroxan or patchouli, it produces the fruity woody perfumes that men's perfumery has leaned on heavily for twenty years.
Who is it for, and when?
Apple is one of the few fruity notes to have settled durably into men's perfumery, by way of the fruity woody accords; it is therefore squarely unisex, which pear is not quite. The green version suits spring, summer and office days, the cooked version autumn and winter. One warning is worth giving: green apple is probably the note that dates a perfume fastest. It carries a period - the late 1990s - and a bottle that overdoes it will sound outmoded well before a woody or a chypre. That is no reason to avoid it, but it is a reason to test it at length before committing to a large size.
How to choose your apple perfume
The first question to settle is the colour: green or cooked are not the same perfumes, nor the same seasons, nor the same people. Then check what supports the fruit, because apple evaporates quickly and the base decides everything after an hour. The bespoke discovery box brings together five 2 mL samples composed by hand, each to be worn for a full day: it is the best way to check that a fruity fragrance does not tire you after three days. To get your bearings, compare GREENLEY, green apple over amber woods, with Or du Serail, cooked apple over honey and tobacco. Between those two lies just about everything the note can do.
Apple at Le Soleil d'Or, a Lille perfumery since 1953
Founded in 1953 by Jeanne Muyllaert on the Grand'Place in Lille, Le Soleil d'Or is an independent perfumery passed down from one generation to the next. Hubert Maes (third generation) turned it into a reference for niche perfumery; today his daughters Victorine and Apolline Maes (fourth generation) uphold the same standards at 22 rue de la Clef, Lille (59800). Our team will let you smell the apple perfumes in the catalogue, with expert advice and guided trials, and can point you in the right direction using our guide to fragrance families.
Delivery & free in-store collection in Lille
Within mainland France, Colissimo delivery is free from 49 € to a pickup point and from 79 € to your door. Within Europe, it is free from 90 € to a pickup point and from 120 € to your door; we also ship worldwide. Live in Lille or nearby? Free in-store collection at 22 rue de la Clef is the fastest and most economical option. Full terms on our shipping page.
